If all is lost, then there's no reason to try and win. But all is not lost. We have won tremendous victories on civil rights and equality for everyone. We've also suffered setbacks. But we cannot give up. We will not give up. In fact, we shall overcome.

A well-informed person would have observed that the players handled the entire situation very intelligently. They were strategic in their demands and patient in their response. This is a game of chess -- it's not checkers. Unfortunately, many criticizers simply didn't understand that.

I was one of the attorneys that represented the family of Trayvon Martin, but I felt sole responsibility for the miscarriage of justice. Not even blessed to be a mother yet, but I already failed my distant relatives. I failed to set the future at the feet of my son.

When queried about the specific connection between the Black Church and Hip Hop, Daniel White Hodge cites research pointing to an epic disconnect: this music impassioned precisely those young African-Americans who in previous generations would have channeled their energies into institutionalized religion.

Few university courses generate much attention from mainstream media, but Georgetown Professor Michael Eric Dyson's course "The Sociology of Hip-Hop: Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z" has drawn national attention.